This afternoon at 5 p.m., a virtual parade will begin here in Austin. I love parades - I love the energy, the people who usually do not find themselves in the same place now standing next to one another, the sights of wonder & awe. I love parades so much so that I often rabble rouse just to get them started.
In Austin, a parade of more than 40 bloggers will form an online parade, hoping to focus attention on poverty. This effort is part of a global initiative called Blog Action Day, uniting more than 9,000 bloggers in the service of a unified issue. What is this all about ?:
Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas.
The response to this opportunity in Austin has been really incredible. We have bloggers from all types of backgrounds - college students, mommy bloggers, geeks of both the tech & God type, and even some corporate types. It is striking to see this in a town like Austin, a place that prides itself on prosperity.
My handy dictionary reminds that poverty is the antonym of prosperity - poverty literally means the total opposite of prosperity. According to Mollie Orshansky who developed the poverty measurements used by the U.S. government, "to live in poverty is to be deprived of those goods and services and pleasures which others around us take for granted."
Austin is a town with 13 Walmarts, with big trucks and (occasionally) ginormous belt buckles and lady's hair. It is home to the largest higher ed institution in the State (whose ball club is currently ranked #1), as well as the state capital. This town loves live music, is filled with hometown heroes and local landmarks. It is a place that is certain that prosperity is ours for the taking.
You have to work to see the face of poverty in Austin. It exists - but it is shunted to the margins & the outskirts, far away from where "good people" tend to congregate. It shocks many folks to learn that more than 20% of people in Central Texas live around poverty levels - we just can not imagine so many people deprived of what we take for granted.
So a parade. 24 hours of people posting on their blogs. Hoping to draw attention to the face of poverty, in our hometown and among the human family. Like most things that we bloggers do, it will be messy & opionated, tending toward navel gazing & bloviating. Toes will be stepped on in this parade - there may even be some one cleaning up after the elephants.
It is foolish, I know. But what is not foolish is that someone's daughter is on the street tonight, selling sex to feed her kids and herself while they live under the I-35 bridge. Someone's son is off his meds, not quite sure where he is, hungry after not eating for 78 hours. A dad lost his job 2 months ago, lost his apartment last month and walks into the shelter tonight for the 2nd time in his life.
People living in poverty is real and it is here and we are all the face of it, just as we are all part of the fabric that makes up the human family.
So yes - a aparade of of bloggers. Here we come - spend some time with us these next 24 hours, then tell us how you can help change the face of poverty.
What you are doing here is incredible.
Incredible.
Thank you.
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 10:16 PM